Kukla's Korner Hockey

Detroit’s attention is elsewhere these days. The Tigers prevailed over the New York Yankees to go on to the American League Championship Series and the once downtrodden Lions are 5-0 for the first time since 1956. Throw in the University of Michigan at 6-0 as it heads for a game against its in-state rival, the Michigan State Spartans, and sports fans in the area have more to cheer about than any others in the country right now.

Sure, the locals showed up at Joe Louis Arena for Friday’s perfunctory home opening win over the over-matched Senators. But with everything else going on in the city, please excuse even the diehards if they didn’t notice what the Red Wings accomplished next. For that matter, give everyone a pass for failing to measure how impressive the Wings’ 3-0 road win the next night in Denver truly was.

Why? Because the Wings hve been doing it for so long. We forget that this eastern time zone-based team didn’t just win on the road, in a back-to-back situation, it endured the travel, a two-hour time zone recalibration and the energy-sapping thin air of Colorado to prevail over the Avalanche in their home opener.

The Wings are always the #1 priority for me. And I’m as big a Wolverines fan and Tigers fan as anyone. (Not so much pro football, but I am very excited for the Lions.) On Saturday night, I practiced the ultimate sports multi-tasking: Red Wings on my computer (gamecenterlive), Tigers on the TV, Michigan on the I-Phone (radio app) and monitoring the score of the Michigan hockey game!

This was a very nice article in SI. Nice to see the Wings get some love from these national publications.

Posted by
MsRedWinger
from the State where Tigers roam in the Spring on 10/11/11 at 03:15 PM ET

I’m a wings fan in Eastern Ohio. We have the Indians (choke) and the Browns (fail). Detroit looks like they’re having a banner year in sports right now.

It’s good to see an influx of morale for the city of Detroit. The Lions are the only NFL team I’ll pay attention to, and the last 10 years or so people are quick to ridicule Lions fans out here in the west. Your only response would be to smile and say, “Yup. Shi**ing the bed is what we do.” Then someone would cleverly suggest the Lions draft a wide-receiver. All Detroit teams are special to their people, because they exemplify how many citizens go about their day-to-day lives - you get knocked down and pissed on, but can you get back up and stick with it (especially the Lions)? No city deserves more attention than Detroit, and sporting success can help attract that attention.

Dater and all sports commentary - Please refrain from using the phrase “thin air” in high altitudes. As a physiologist it’s a painful and inaccurate description that is widely used. Just say, “lower concentration of oxygen at high altitudes,” which may impress some of your readers. Thank you.